This I Believe

Laughing until you cry and crying until you laugh are precious moments in life, but what really makes those moments wonderful is having the best of friends around. Whether the laughing is from a drawing or the crying from a boy, friends share your emotions and understand them. When I think of the people who have had the most impact on my life, I think of my four best friends who have been my friends since I was four years old. They are my best friends because they genuinely care about me, are incredibly caring and are enjoyable to be around. Because of this, I believe in the power of friendship, the impact it has on others, and what it can teach people about themselves.

Friends can leave positive, negative and lifelong impacts on another person. Who a person becomes with friends and the way these friends act shapes the person’s morals, characteristic and values. Another huge impact my friends have on me is gaining the ability to acquire a different perspective on issues and being able to see problems through someone else’s eyes. This is especially important when I am fighting with friends and I only think my views are right. My friends, in this circumstance, have taught me to not just look at one rose petal, but the entire garden. Having that ability makes many things in life far easier, such as having to meet new friends and even marriage.

When maintaining friendships, there has to be compatibility or else the relationship falls through. With my friends and me, we are all goofy and love life, so that’s what makes us want to be together. When moods change and someone is being a “Debbie Downer” we don’t necessarily want to hang out with that girl because she isn’t sharing the moods we are in. She is the weed when we are the flower garden. This shows that when one friend’s real character is revealed, then the other’s is revealed as well, because they would have to be similar to be compatible.

Friends make a person laugh, cry, and scream, but they also make that person love, care, and admire. These are traits that every human being longs to have even if they never admit to it. I believe that the power of friendship makes human beings better as a whole because people know that they are genuinely cared about by others. Merely having friends around when I have bad days or having them there to encourage me when I mourn, such as when my grandma died last month, is an instant heart lift that no one can explain because it is simply the power of friendship.

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Top 100 Essays USB Drive

This USB drive contains 100 of the top This I Believe audio broadcasts of the last ten years, plus some favorites from Edward R. Murrow's radio series of the 1950s. It's perfect for personal or classroom use! Click here to learn more.

This week’s essay

Following her grandmother’s death, Priya Chandrasekaran wondered what to do with the colorful silk saris she inherited. In deciding to make a quilt from them, Chandrasekaran believes she found a way to both honor her grandmother and create something new. Click here to read her essay.